The embodiments disclosed herein relate to a bicycle seat clamp assembly for attaching a seat to a seat post of a bicycle.
Prior art bicycle seat clamp assemblies are provided in many different arrangements. For example, the rails of prior art seats may have straight sections. The prior art seat clamp clamps onto these straight sections to attach the seat to the seat post.
When attaching the seat to the bicycle, the front to back position of the seat must be adjusted to the rider's body geometry and the geometry of the bicycle in order to gain optimal comfort and power output. Bicycles are manufactured in set standard sizes such as small, medium and large for purposes of reducing cost. However, bicycle riders all have different heights and body geometries. Even riders of the same height have different inseams and different body geometries. In an attempt to accommodate these differences, the bicycle is manufactured with different adjustments. For example, the seat is attached to the seat post so that the seat can be adjusted with respect to its front to back position and tilt angle. This allows the rider's legs to be optimally positioned over the pedals when in the seated position. Unfortunately, the straight sections of the rails of the bicycle seat have a set length. Thus, the front to back adjustment of the seat is limited. For riders that fall between bicycle sizes such as small and medium or medium and large, the existing front to back adjustments may not be sufficient to optimally position the rider on the bicycle with respect to the pedals. Accordingly, when fitting a bicycle to a rider, compromises are made recognizing these limitations to optimally position the rider on the bicycle to increase power output.
In a standard bicycle fit, the convention is to adjust the seat so that it is level with the ground. In other words, the front nose and the rear portion of the seat which supports the rider's sit bones should be horizontal to the ground. However, some riders prefer to tilt the seat nose up while others prefer to tilt the seat nose down. Unfortunately, prior art bicycle seat clamp assemblies provide limited front to back angular tilt ranges which may be insufficient for the rider's preference.
Moreover, prior art bicycle seat clamp assemblies may have a pair of mating curved surfaces to allow for the angular tilt. These curved surfaces may be knurled to prevent inadvertent angular movement of the seat during riding. Unfortunately, the knurls lock the seat into set tilt angles which may not be preferred by the rider.
Prior art bicycle seat clamp assemblies conventionally have a clamping mechanism that produces a vertical clamping force on the rails of the seat. Seats with standard rails may be used in these systems. However, modern bicycle seat clamp assemblies may clamp onto the sides of the rails. Unfortunately, these side clamping seat clamp assemblies are manufactured to fit only one rail size (e.g., 7×9 mm oval rails or 7 mm round rails). Hence, one side clamping seat clamp assembly fits one rail size. A different rail size requires a different side clamping seat clamp assembly.
Prior art bicycle seat clamp assemblies are also cumbersome to operate. Also, the bolts and screws may be awkwardly located so as to be inconvenient for the user to tighten.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved bicycle seat clamp.